Kevin Lassiter, a 40-year-old Tyner resident, pleaded guilty on August 5, 2024, and was given a 10-year sentence in federal prison for possessing child pornography. Lassiter’s illegal content was found when the Perquimans County Sheriff’s Office responded to CyberTips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
Service providers reported to NCMEC on September 27, 2023, that from late July to late August of that year, a user on their cloud storage platform on the Verizon network had uploaded 12 photographs of kids engaging in sexual acts. Officials connected the CyberTips to Lassiter using a phone number and Tyner residence, even though Lassiter was a registered sex offender for identical offenses in 2013. “Investigators obtained and executed a search warrant for Lassiter’s residence,” the U.S. Department of Justice got from the statement.
A cell phone that matched the number from the CyberTips was discovered during the search at his house, proving that it was connected to the uploads. Lassiter’s actions during the search effectively self-incriminated him; he showed signs of distress when deputies confiscated a hard disk he had falsely identified as a router. Later, during an interview at the sheriff’s office, he admitted that the device held the illegal content and revealed that he moved pictures from the hard drive to his phone.
After a thorough forensic investigation, Lassiter’s 6TB Western Digital external hard disk had about 10,000 files with evidence of child sexual assault. Federal prosecutors reported that “90% of files depicting minors 10 years old or younger” were among them. Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the news after Lassiter was sentenced to ten years in prison. While Assistant U.S. Attorney Jake D. Pugh handled the court processes, the FBI and the Perquimans County Sheriff’s Office collaborated to investigate the case. By searching for Case No. 2:24-cr-0014-BO on the PACER system or the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina website, pertinent papers are available.
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